So, who is going to be the first to pop the hood and show us the engine.....with close ups? Show us the meat! he he.
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pstores,
Have you heard (in your system) the new Peachtree GaN 400 or are you referring to an older Peachtree amp?
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Great to see the insides......
So, one thing that would make it sound more open sounding is to remove the steel plate over the transformer and removed the steel bolt. Then you raise the transformer off the chassis and place it on a one half inch thick piece of wood.....you can lightly glue the wood to the chassis and also glue (Amazing Goop) the transformer to the wood......just so it does not move around. When shipping the unit then put the steel stuff back in place to make it more secure. By removing the steel and getting the transformer off the chassis the sound will open up mucho. You can try this simply without the glue and it will take just a few minutes to remove both covers and remove the steel hardware and stick a piece of wood underneath......WHO will be first to try this?
The Cardas binding posts are good but even better is to get rid of the posts, put slightly longer wire on the output and clamp that wire directly to your speaker cables using nylon bolts, washers and nuts sitting right outside the binding post holes....If you remove the spade or whatever on your speaker wire and clamp to the wire coming out of the amp.....your jaw will drop on the floor.
Of course, you would want to put a Furutech super IEC inlet on the amp and get rid of the stock inlet. Get a fuse holder from Acme and wire it off the Furutech inlet and get one of those new yeller fuses from Quantum Science......
If these were my amps I would do all these things within a couple of hours of them being here......When you know what makes better sound.....well, you have to do it!
Of course, there is more.....always more.....including better feet.....adding mass, etc. etc. etc. into infinity.
How about changing the op amp on the input to a discrete one? Discrete op amps are generally more real and open sounding.
This will be fun, reading the responses.....he he.
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So, what you are saying is: Your purpose here is to make sure everyone knows that what I say cannot be trusted"? Wow, that is a very high purpose. Your soul must be celebrating. So, what wares am I peddling with my post?
You can test FOR YOURSELF....what I say.....by trying it in your system....and see if you hear any difference or not. Of course, if you do listening tests with total prejudice then you will never hear anything. If you live in the bay area you can come over to my house and I will demonstrate things that will blow your mind to kingdom come. Are you open to learning? Or do you want to just say the same things over and over?
Since you do not listen to the things I state....then you have no knowledge....plain and simple.....you just have a thought that what I say is wrong......but you will not test it yourself....sad.....so easily tested.
The thousands of audiophiles all over the world that listen to wires, fuses, jacks, etc......are LIVING PROOF that these things are real. What proof (listening tests) do you have that what they all say is wrong? Please share.
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Ralph,
It is the truth that anything conductive on top of the transformer or in the middle will mess up the sound.....so, you don’t want non magnetic stainless steel, brass or anything like that. You want plastic or wood.....wood being preferable. You can tie your transformer down using glue and wire ties.....works great. A steel plate on top of the transformer will mess up the sound. This is truth.
Hot rodding does not always look good.....what do you care what the amp looks like from behind?
You can make an even better AC filter and put it on a board....much better sonically than the ones that are encased in steel.....way better. Audiophile fuses most always make a sonic improvement.....it has nothing to do with voltage drop. They all have a sound (every brand of fuse sounds different)......just like the AC inlet has a sound. The one you are using is not as good of SOUNDING inlet as a Furutech.....and even the various versions of Furutech inlets sound different from each other.
You are wrong about op amps......every opamp made TODAY sounds different from every other op amp made today. None of them have "no sound". The best discrete op amps are simply more real sounding than any "chip" op amp. I have listened to even the latest op amps and still none of them are as good as a great discrete circuit.......they are getting close.....but to get the last bit of depth, palpability and realism......no....not there yet. And any circuit is only as good as the regulators, AC power, fuses. capacitors, bypass caps, wire, resistors (yes, every brand of surface mount resistor has a SOUND).
The reason I KNOW all this is because I do serious listening tests. This is the only way to KNOW something is real. This is not philosophy or something YOU THINK is real. When you hear it....you KNOW. You have to have a willingness to really KNOW and an openess to find out.....it is not about pre conceived notions. You do listening tests to blow your mind.....not to confirm your bias. The ego wants to define and defend. The soul wants to expand and love. The ears just listen and know. The heart feels and knows.
Kuribo,
Being right and making people wrong is just an ego game. If you have not listened with an open mind to what I am taling about then you have NO KNOWLEDGE....just words. Knowledge is direct experience....not "thinking you know". If you want to KNOW something about audio....then you have to listen.....without prejudice. Are all the thousands of people worldwide who have listened to audiophile fuses and love them and describe the sound of different brands all hypnotized by the "snake oil salesmen"?.......are we all that stupid? CAN WE TRUST OUR EARS?........I believe so. What I share with others is what I have learned from listening. When I get a benefit sonically, I want to share it with the world because most people who LISTEN and TRY what I suggest find the same truth....they hear pretty much the same thing and their sound is benefited. I want people to have better sound....that is why I share......what is your purpose here?
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People believe and say and do all kinds of things......does not make it true.....same for me. What I state about op amps is my experience.....if Ralph has a different EXPERIENCE then that is fine. The only way to know what is true in this case is to try a discrete op amp in place of the one he uses and listen. I am not doing that....are you? So, neither of us knows what would happen......but since my experience has been universal (that is, no matter where and how you use an op amp......it has a sonic signature)......I bet it would be the same here.
This is what Ralph stated: "Our input buffer has a gain of 2, which is to say there’s a lot of feedback and with modern opamps, as long as you don’t ask more than about 20dB or so, they will be as neutral as you can get."
The above statement is not my experience......again, no matter how much feedback...all op amps sound different (and none of them are neutral)....all of them: discrete and Integrated circuit ones.
BTW, Nord, Apollon, VTV, etc. sell amps that have discrete input buffer option....so you can roll op amps......all op amp options sound different from each other.....this buffer is on the input of a class D Purifi module......it uses very little gain.....just like Ralph......you can also put adapter boards in these discrete op amp input boards with regular op amps on them.....yes, they sound different again....and not as good as the discrete ones.....go read their sites......email them....they will tell you about how different they sound......I am not the only one in the world with this experience.....lots and lots of people have rolled the latest op amps.......
Shall we move on? Or shall we keep talking about things that we cannot prove?
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The tweaks I suggest are universal.....every amp in every price category would improve it's sound to the same degree (assuming they are made like the Atmas). this includes the op amps......it does not matter how much feedback or how much gain is being used.....the sonic signature remains.......this will always be so.....everything has a sound.
The speaker cable plastic clampy thang is not dangerous.....you can mount the plastic hardware on something and no metal is exposed. I’ve always liked Goofy.....one of my favs. Check out the speaker ideas page on my website and you will see some plastic speaker wire clamps mounted on an external xover. Perfectly safe.
What Ralph believes is what he believes......only truth is truth.....you have to listen to know what is true in audio.......What you believe is what you believe......it is best to BE LIVE.......and that means LISTEN......then you will KNOW.
Shall we get back to listening impressions of the amp?
Will anyone try the steel removal and let us know? Be bold.....go where no one else would go.....do it for the gipper or your mother, or God or for YOU.
BE, LIVE, LISTEN, KNOW......and while you are at it....LOVE and JOY!
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I understand that measurements can affect sound.....However, it is just one tool and a very flawed one. You cannot measure resistors, inductors, wire, solder, op amps, connecotrs, damping, shielding, directionality of fuses, fuses, circuit board material, resonances, etc. in any meaningful way......You have to listen.
if you are using a big inductive resistor and then went to a small non inductive resistor....you might measure something. However, all nichrome surface mount one sixteenth watt reistor brands ALL sound different from each other. They are all made from practically the same material....are the same size, etc.....Why wuold this be? Who cares?!.....I A/Bed four different brands and one brand was clearly more transparent then the others......still using this resistor today.....but I parallel them for better sound and use a larger version as that sounds better too........so many things affect the sound that cannot be measured......this is HOW it is.
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My goal is to inform people so they can improve their stereo or their lives....that is what I do. The mods I suggested are completely universal. If you did this to a $400 Topping or a $120,000 Gryphon amp the results would be the same....except you would hear more difference with the more transparent piece of gear. When Mytek FINALLY releases their ($20,000) 500 watt a channel mono block GaN amps (now supposedly shipping this month) and a thread is posted here on them and a pic is shown that shows bolts and plates on their tranny then ......I would IMMEDIATELY suggest those with the amps remove that hardware. THESE MODS ARE UNIVERSAL........and the ONLY WAY you would know this is to have tried these things over and over again and had feedback from people who did these things. I have had the information about the steel plates, etc. on my website for OVER 15 YEARS! Every person who has tried it (that I know of) has found the sound improved....(on their amps that I have NEVER seen or touched).
Gryphon amps, Audio Research amps, etc. etc. have fuses that can be upgraded (and thousands of people have upgraded their fuses)......better fuses sound better in ALL equipment. Better jacks sound better in ALL equipment.....better op amps sound better in All equipment.....better wire, better footers.....on and on into infinity...this is just how it is. The game is very complex.....and most manufacturers are not super tweaky explorers.....they have an opinion as to what they think is right and implement to their predilections. This is how the ego works....it defines and defends....D’Agostino makes these monster Relentless amps and they made custom output connectors for them.....big hulking things....made from pure Brass.....Brass? A high mass brass connector? Sorry, this is horrible....How about copper, how about OFC copper, how about cryoing, how about PCOCC copper? No, let’s make them from distorted sounding brass. Have you ever listened to brass speaker cables? You would not want to. .If they used a low mass copper nextgen from WBT they would have much better sound. I actually sent an email to D’Agostino and even showed them by binding post bypass system. Are they going to change what they do because I told them that.............NAH........define and defend. Limitations are what the ego lives for. The soul lives to expand. It wants to know more and feel more and be of more service to more people.
Some manufacturers, over the years have implemented my ideas and copied my products.....I invented the shunt attenuator back in 1989 and it was copied by several manufactures......etc. We ALL make a difference.
If you want to believe these mods are only for Pintos and not Corvettes....well, that is your belief......but it is not based on facts.....only those that try something...know what something does sonically. Any one of you who owns these amps or ANY amp or any DAC, preamp, etc. that has a steel cover and bolt that can be removed can try this mod and see for yourself if it really works or not. Any of you who has a product that uses fuses...can try an audiophile fuse......Changing op amps, jacks, eliminating jacks and the like need to be done by someone who knows what they are doing about this stuff or is a DIY person. But ANYONE can change a fuse or eliminate some steel hardware....or use better footers or add damped weight on top....or lift their cables off the floor. Lots of things the "normal" audiophile can do to improve the sound. Since most things that improve the sound cannot be measured.......then the person who does the change is the final decider of whether its an improvement or not. When you have almost everyone agreeing on a change having a benifit.....to me that is objective truth.....based on listening. This is what we have to go by.....not measurements. When we finally come up with a machine that measures the sound differences in wires, jacks, op amps, resistors, inductors, etc, into infinity....that will be nice....Until then....we have our ears.....Please, trust what you hear......trust what you feel.....love one another. Have fun....
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Real KNOWLEDGE in audio.......is how something sounds......there is no common Knowledge of sound.....because there are so many variables......believe it or not. There is lots of technical knowledge.....but that does not necessarily correlate to sound quality....
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Most class D amps use switching supplies.....some don’t. There are advantages to both. Switching supplies are smaller, cheaper, more effecient and operate at high frequency so there is no 60hz ripple.. But because they switch at higher frequencies they have more high frequency noise that needs to be filtered. As with everything.....it is in the details. If you use the very best parts and execution on both.....which will sound better? Very few know this.....again each manufacturer will usually have their own predilections and go from there. There are many who have changed a switching supply to a linear supply and have gotten better sound. Then there are those who have done the opposite.....and there are those who have tweaked their switching supply so it sounds way, way, way better than stock. As with what I said above.....there is NO common knowledge. Great amps have been made using both. The latest class D from Aavik that Jonathan Scull just raved about uses a modded Pascal module and switching power supplies and all kinds of tweaks. Lots of ways up the mountain of sound.
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Here is what is true with high end audio.....practically no one knows very much.....because it is infinite. Not so with hot rodding. All quarter mile top fuelers look the same and perform the same....because the game is so very simple.....it is horsepower, weight, drag, traction and gearing......and the driver.....that is all that there is........and you can measure it by the clock. In high end audio every single thing makes a sonic difference (my experience with over 45 years of listening tests) and there is soooooooooooooooo much to know that all manufacturers have just a tiny piece of the pie of info. It takes months to just figure out the best wire to use.....this is why every single product at every single price point sounds different. THERE IS NO REFERENCE in high end audio.......no clock to test us.....no race course.....it is every manufacturer on his own....every customer on his own......so there is no common knowledge.....However, as things get tested more and more and TALKED about more and more then some TRUTH will prevail. For those that have never listened to wires, and jacks and whatever then what I say sounds like a different language and how dare I second guess the designers (for they know everything!). Sorry to break you bubble.....but we are all so ingorant.....including me. The more you know....the more you know nothing. However, I have an expertise in tweaking....just like Nelson Pass has an expertise in circuit design.....we all are learning and growing. The more we talk about our experience (what we have listened to) then the more REAL KNOWLEDGE we will have. So, if you do not know anything about tweaking then you have no idea if what I say works or does not work.....and how universal it is. So, who is going to change the fuses out and remove the steel plates and bolts on the transformers and LISTEN and give us some REAL KNOWLEDGE?.......Are we going to just say what we "think" is true or do we really want to improve our stereo. You cannot improve your stereo by fighting tweakers....or fighting anyone......Please, try something new.....figure out what is really true for YOURSELF......do not believe me or Kuribo or Ralph.....find out what is true for YOU.......You can change....you can embrace something new. I encourage you to explore.....Exploration is fun.....being right is old stuff and not fun. Do you want to have fun? Do you want to make your stereo better? Just do it!
Blessings and Love.
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Ego fighting is not making your stereo better or making anyone else's stereo better or making people feel better......or be more happy. What makes you happy? When you are happy you radiate happiness.....and you also want others to be happy. Do you want me to be happy? If so, then praise and raise me to heaven. I am doing that for all of you right now. You are all beautiful.....you are the light of lights.....may you feel loved by the universe.....right now.....for you are.... Every single thing and being in all the known and unknown universe is loving you right this moment. You have never been unloved. Rejoice....celebrate this incredible miraculous moment.....for this very moment is all we have. You are worthy.....you are deserving.....you are incredible!
Share your beauty.....share you knowledge (what you have experienced), share your love....share your magnificience..
There is "what I want" on track......and there is the track of the soul......there is plenty of time to know about an amp......but to live right now in your heart.....well that is precious.......and worthy of eternity.
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All GaN amps will sound completly different from every other GaN amp and also all Class D amps using mosfets......the GaN transistor may be one thing that improves sound but it is just one of an infinite number things that change the sound.
Here is a list of my candidates for excellent class D amps at lower prices (under $10K)
1. The VTV Purifi Eval amp.....around $1200
2. Orchard mono blocks (GaN amps) $1500
3. VTV Purifi stereo amp using the New Purifi ET704 modules and discrete input stages using the better Sparko labs op amps, Sparko labs discrete regulators and WBT negtgen jacks.....$2100
4. Dual mono stereo version of above. $2260 or mono blocks $2600
5. Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra (GaN based).....starting at $2500 for basic stereo....options for dual mono and extra capacitance....
6. Peachtree GaN 400 and LSA Voyager amps (GaN based)....basically the same amp with the same modules and power supply $3K or less
7. The Atmasphere GaN mono block $5400 the pair
8. AGD mono block Audion GaN based amps.....$7500 the pair.
9. Hopefully soon to be released.... the Mytek Manhattan amp....stereo amp using GaNs.....something like $7K.
These need to be all compared with each other.....Who is volunteering?
Here is a real sleeper....and maybe a super amp?:
Peachtree has just released a The Gan 1 class D amp that has NO FEEDBACK....no op amps......it is pure digital. Takes PCM via coax only and converts it to PWM in software and uses GAN output stage. NO feedback. This will not have a low of impedance as some of the above and also the distortion figures will be worse than above (Kuribo will freak out at this). However, the sound is said to be really great. You need a source that has some kind of digital volume control at 32 bits or more so you won’t mess up the sound. This thing requires no DAC, no preamp....no cables between DAC and Preamp and amp.....This is exactly what the Technics amps do and also the Lyndorf amps do. There is only a few delivered so comparisons to any serious DAC/Preamp/amp combos have not been made.....but I always like a short signal path.....let’s see what this $2000 amp that needs no DAC or Preamp can do.
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Here is another class D amp that will be really good when it hits the street (in two to three months):
The New DIY amp from Hypex called the Nilai 500 DIY. This is Hypex's latest module and will be available for DIY only. The measurements are as good as it gets and makes Kuribo drool....he he
The modules are $350 each and the new power supply for it is $250. Mono block kits (including chassis and all hardware and wiring) will be $850 each plus paypal, duty and shipping.....so less than $2K delivered. Anyone with a screwdriver and soldering gun can have them up and working in a few hours. A stereo amp will be $1225 plus paypal, shipping and duty.
There is an thread on ASR for those that want to know more. Completely discrete front end circuit and completely discrete built in regulators. Good Wima caps on the output filter. 500 watts into 4 ohms.
Another Class D winner! How will this less than half price thing sound against the Atmasphere?
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I post info to inform and serve......why so aggressive in response? If you don’t like my info, just ignore it. When you take your ego sword out and start swinging, you are not in a high vibration.....Do you love yourself, do you love me? We are the same. I have info that some people find worthwhile. If you do not find my info worthwhile.....then that is fine......but why FIGHT about it? Have I said a bad word against anyone? Is this a band of fan boys defending their turf? Please look in the mirror. There is no turf.....there is no one that owns a thread. Everything can be said by anyone. Threads meander all over the place.....and they should, as that is how we learn stufff. More opinons (especially by people who have listened to stuff)....the better. Of course, the forum rules apply.....and to everyone.
Have a blessed weekend.
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We have Kuribo claiming that only measurements are meaningful and since Hypex and Purifi have the best measurements then they are the best. Then you have Ralph saying it is ONLY certain measurements that are meaningful for sound and his amp has those measurements. Neither one of these people claim that parts and tweak execution are necesarry or important.
Please go to 10 audio.com and read the reviews of the Purifi based amps from NAD and the EVS modified VTV $1000 amp. They both use the same exact module from Purifi......I do some minor mods to the Purifi module.....but it would not measure any different. He describes the sound difference.......quite a bit better with my modded Purifi than the stock implemented NAD. BTW, I am no longer modding amplifiers.....so this is not an advertisement. In fact, you will see all references to modding removed from my website this weekend (I am sure the anti modders are celebrating....he he)
Measurements are great......I think it is better to have lower measured distortion and probably Ralph is correct about the types of distortion. But.....a BIG BUT.......this is just the beginning. I can take any amplifier of any type.....class A, Class A/B, class D.....solid state or tubes and improve the sound in infinite ways that have NOTHING To do with the distortion measurements. I have been doing this for over 40 years. People have sent me their stock digital disc players, DACs, etc. and I have done mods on them and returned them and ALL of them over the years say they now have better sound. It is universal.
If you really want to KNOW anything about what I am saying.....then simply try the transformer mod ON ANY product you have that has a toroidal transformer bolted down with steel hardware. Do you want to be right?.....or do you want to learn something? Do you want the sound you have now or do you want better sound? It will take 20 minutes to take the covers off....remove the steel and place the transformer on a three inch sqaure piece of one quarter inch thick wood. You can even temporarlily use two stacked double thick cardboard pieces Even if you just lay the transfomer down on the chassis the sound would be improved......but it sounds best by getting the transformer away from the grounded chassis.
You could also try an audiophile fuse....(the $200 Quantum yellow for instance). Does it improve the sound.....or will it do nothing as Ralph and Kuribo claim?......Who do you believe? I believe no one. I try things for myself. Do not believe me, do not believe Kuribo, do not believe Ralph......believe what you experience/what you hear. DIRECT experience tells you what is true.....words are just words.....opinions are just opinions.....truth can be known by direct experience only. Are you in LOVE? Do you need someones opinion to know you are in love? Do you need someones opinion to know what something sounds like? I hope not. Be your own Guru.....be your own source of knowledge......A wise man has direct knowledge.....he does not follow others..
We are the infinite light, love, joy and peace of God.....We are also wise and powerful....especially when we let spirit guide our ways of thinking and saying and feeling and doing. May you all create a life filled with the bliss of God.
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jerryg123,
There is just one verson of AGD (assuming you heard the latest 2nd version) and only one version of the Atmas.......but there are tons of versions of the Purifi based amps and they all sound different from each other. So, which version (which discrete op amp, which regulators, dual mono or single power supply, quality of output jacks, etc.) by what company did you hear? As I mentioned before you can read on 10 Audio.com that my modded $1600 Purifi based VTV amp was preferred greatly to a NAD amp with a stock Purifi......
There is also a newer higher powered module from Purifi that has been for sale for some months now and it is supposed to sound better than the original......yet, they both are PURIFI modules.......again, what did you hear?
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mglik,
How do they sound compared with the AGD Audion's?
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